Survivor (British TV series)

Survivor is the British reality game show based on the popular international reality franchise of the same name. The series aired for 2 series on ITV network from 2001 to 2002.

Survivor
GenreReality competition
Created byCharlie Parsons
Based onExpedition Robinson/Survivor
by Charlie Parsons
Presented by
Theme music composerRuss Landau
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes24
Production
Executive producerNigel Lythgoe
Running time60 minutes (inc. adverts) (main show)
Production companyPlanet 24
Release
Original networkITV
Original release21 May 2001 (2001-05-21) –
29 May 2002 (2002-05-29)
Chronology
Related showsInternational versions

Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show features a group of contestants become castaways as they are marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted off the island by their fellow castaways. The final castaway remaining is awarded the title of "Ultimate Survivor" and the grand prize of £1 million.

While it was considered a failure in the ratings by ITV, the programme was watched by more viewers than other reality shows at the time, including Big Brother.[1]

Format

The show follows the same general format as the other editions of Survivor. To begin, the players are split into two or three tribes, are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meagre supplies for a period of several weeks. Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for immunity, forcing the other tribe to attend Tribal Council, where they must vote one of their tribemates out of the game by secret ballot.

About halfway through the game, the tribes are merged into a single tribe, and challenges are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players that are voted out during this stage become members of the Tribal Council Jury. When only two or three players remain, the Final Tribal Council is held. The finalists plead their case to the Jury as to why they should win the game. The jurors then have the opportunity to interrogate the finalists before casting their vote for which finalist should be considered the "Ultimate Survivor" and be awarded the grand prize of £1,000,000.

Series
List of Survivor (UK) series
No. Title Premiere Finale Location Days Initial Tribes Winner Runner-up Final vote
1 Survivor: Pulau Tiga 21 May 2001 25 July 2001 Pulau Tiga, Sabah, Malaysia 40 Two tribes of eight Charlotte Hoborough Jackie Carey 7–0
2 Survivor: Panama 13 March 2002 25 May 2002 Bocas del Toro, Panama 37 Two tribes of six Jonny Gibb Susannah Moffatt 7–0

Controversy

I'm a Celebrity ... lawsuit

While Survivor did not succeed for ITV, the network did find success with I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, with many similarities to Survivor, and which received massive ratings in August 2002. The show's similarity in content to Survivor led many viewers (both in the UK and US) to believe that the shows had some licensing agreement, however this was not the case. Legal action was sought by CBS to prevent broadcast in the US however the court ruled against, stating that "Celebrity is different enough from Survivor that CBS would have difficulty prevailing in its underlying copyright infringement suit."[2]

Potential revival

Following the Banijay Group's acquisition of Castaway Productions (the owners of the Survivor format), they are looking to revive Survivor in the UK. Banijay Group's CEO Peter Langenberg spoke to Broadcast Now about the potential return in the UK, stating that RDF, the largest UK production company within Banijay, is attempting to rekindle interest in the format amongst broadcasters. “Having hands on the format means we can polish it and come up with Survivor 2.0, because it needs a refresh,” Langenberg said.[3]

In October 2019, a casting call for an "Adventure Island" programme led to speculation that Survivor would be revived.[4]However, this turned out to be The Bridge, an unrelated format for Channel 4.

See also

References
  1. "Survivor proves a TV dinosaur". BBC. 25 July 2001.
  2. "CBS loses lawsuit; ABC's "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" to air in February". Reality TV World. 14 January 2003. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  3. "Banijay Acquire Castaway Productions, Could Survivor UK Return?". 20 July 2017.
  4. "Could Survivor UK Be About To Make A Comeback?". Inside Survivor. 14 October 2019.
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